I think everyone at last night's meeting was in agreement, that there should be a President and a committee to lead the association. The committee would make most decisions but if they wanted to, they could still poll the membership on any issue.

Just some thoughts on the selection of the committee/board for the new association.

1) Select the number of members that would be required. Let the membership decide, but my opinion would be five to eight people any less means too much work on too few and and any more it becomes bogged down.

2) Ask for volunteers to fill the positions on the committee and if there are more volunteers than positions let the membership vote on who they would like to see fill the positions.

3) Let the committee determine who should be the president and vice president. In my opinion there should be both positions to allow for the business of the committee to continue if the president is unavailable.

4) The first order of business for the committee should be determining the responsibilties, terms of office etc of the positions and of the committee members.

The above are just some ideas that might be helpful in getting the association off in the right direction.

I've had some comments sent to me throught the Contact Us form. I thought I'd add them to this thread to be included in the discussion.

From Polarbeardiggers:

i will also submit you "dani" and mark as committee members,and vote master instigator as president,also i would vote in lorilee,"queen" as a member in the committee

He is currently without internet access and had to borrow access to send me this message and some gallery photos.

From The-Stuntman:

I believe that the three of you (Dani, Skaven and M.I.) should be on the commitee. I also think that M.I. would make a great Pres. He has mentioned that he does have a lot on the go right now. If he does not want the position I would like to nominate PETER from peter and gloria. I feel he has the most experiance and the time for the assoc.

I agree with the 'nominees' mentioned. Time and dedication will be important for the committee, which I think Peter has. Skaven seems to have already put a lot of thought and effort into this, as well as MI and Dani. The 'Queen' is very creative and will have GREAT ideas for events. I would also add Polarbeardiggers; he's also got a creative streak, and seems to be quite keen. I heard he doesn't sleep, either, so he's bound to have lots of time

Small committees are good: 3-4-5. The committee members should be broad enough in interest and scope so that not just one special interest takes over.

Our preference would be that the committee's mandate eventually would be 1. to give general advice/ guidance to geocachers in Manitoba with the basis being geocaching.com 2. public representation to the non-caching community such as media, supporting businesses, parks etc. 3.organize or promote group events such as Spring Cache Hiding/Maintenance Days, Barbeques, promo-teaching courses and 4. MBGA website maintainance and upgrading.

And that looks like a huge job description for volunteers who have many, many other interests.

The committee should balance the interests and concerns of those "hider" cachers who make the effort to hide unique quality caches in the varied ways: uban, rural, micro, traditional, multi with those cachers who are involved more with seeking in various locations.

I realized again that the interests of the geocaching community are as diverse as actual geographers, comp. geeks, nature-lovers, mapping specialists, teachers, artists,writers, environmentalists, the military, techies etc.

A historian will love cache locations with a rich historical background, an athlete will love the long hikes that require stamina, a family will love large containers with cool toys,many seemingly average people with drudge jobs will often enjoy putting on a persona of stealth and finding small micros in daring places. Our family has honestly enjoyed ( in some way) every single cache we've tried yet - some more than others. Even the ones that have been muggled.

Probably this committee will centre around Winnipeg since it has the most cachers and caches. Even if the committee (for physical reasons) is comprised of Winnipeg cachers, an openess to the concerns and ideas of rural cachers need to be heard.

We would like to see that guidelines for hiding/seeking caches would be no more stringent than Geocaching.com's already are. They have many good general guidelines based on a wealth of experiences. Dialogue with National Parks should continue. For example would Manitoba's National Parks be opposed to multi's that would be like Peter's Whitetail Trail and then having the final cache outside park boundaries? That is what they do in the U.S. a lot.

I think the three original volunteers to organize the first event are good candidates for the committee since we can see their obvious strengths. I think they can draw on any of us to help promote the game, each of us with our interests. The passion for the game is vital. We need to start small- since we really are a small, very new group and be very flexible. Our family hopes for two more casual get togethers, one in spring and one in early fall to visit with each other. More purposeful meetings will develop out of that as we get to know each other. Just a bit of advice to those who want to serve: Starting as a "social events" committee is far better than taking on the role of lawmaker too early. Cache on Manitoba!

P.S. We are also members of the Maritime Geocaching Organization and though we never go to meetings really love their style!

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